Kamishima
by Keyshell
Summary: One of the GMs of Yggdrasil decides to stay for the server shutdown.
1. The Dragon and the Fish

A massive island floating above the clouds, teeming with life. The Island of the Gods, Kamishima. Manaka Suzuki spent all her free time in this game, yet here she lay by the Lake of Life, bored and broken, listening to the sound of flowing water and wildlife, staring at the pink, glistening water.

"You just gonna lay here until the servers shut down, Ghoti?" a voice behind her broke the silence. She turned her head to briefly glance at Link. The resemblance always amused her. As GMs, Link and Manaka had free reign to design their characters however they wanted without sacrificing stats. She questioned whether she could have designed something cool for her avatar, Ghoti, regardless of how satisfied she was with her Doppleganger's ability to look however she wanted.

She looked around at the forest surrounding them, more beautiful than anything she could have found in the real world. Green everywhere, ambient noises of wildlife, rich plant life, flowing water. It was like a paradise.

"You know this is my favorite spot, Link-San" She began, "It's a fitting place to be for the end of this world." Link chuckled,

"Dramatic as usual I see." He plopped down beside her. "I told you to stop saying 'San', you can just call me Link. We've been friends for like a decade now." Manaka mumbled an acknowledgement, preceding a brief silence. "You wanna spar one last time? I wanted to get even with you, and this'll probably be my last chance to do it." She laughed at him,

"You know, I think I'm perfectly satisfied with the score. Besides, you'd have to beat me twice to catch up with my fifty-one wins." Link shrugged.

"You're right, you're right. I don't have time for it anyways, I need to get to bed." Manaka frowned. She was hoping to spend her last moments here with a good friend.

"Sure, seeya." She quickly blurted, hiding her emotions behind a cold exterior.

"Hope to see you in another game sometime." He offered nostalgically, but sighed at the silence that followed.

Manaka typed vigorously at a keyboard, creating settings for the NPC standing before her. She bounced on her toes as she clicked 'enter'. Before her stood a dragon in human form. It appeared as if it were a woman just beginning the process of transforming into a dragon; yellow snake eyes, patches of scales, enormous wings, razor-sharp claws, and a long reptilian tale. Standing at three meters tall, Manaka had set it's stats with as many 9's as each category could hold, "because why not?" she told herself. Her GM privileges allowed her to do so. A creature that would require more players to beat than the server could hold in one place without crashing. A fitting being to leave guarding Kamishima.

Manaka spent a while lounging by the lake with her new creation, scrolling through a list of current online players. Surshana and 5 of his friends, Momonga, 8 players all near eachother, a few others. She gazed out onto the Lake of Life as the clock ticked away.

[23:59:20]

Less than a minute to go. She pondered what her daily life would be like after this game. She would have to find a new hobby. Maybe a new game.

[23:59:40]

She should have made another NPC. One to keep her dragon company.

[23:59:45]

That's stupid.

[23:59:55]

She would miss it here.

[23:59:56]

[23:59:57]

[23:59:58]

[23:59:59]

"Goodbye."

[00:00:00]

...

[00:00:01]

Huh?

She gazed at the Lake of Life, noting that it was still in front of her. Had they pushed the servers back? No, something was different. There was no HUD.

She also immediately noticed that all of her senses were suddenly not only active within this world, but heightened to levels she never knew possible. She could smell the sweet aroma of the water and plant life. She could feel the grass beneath her. She could hear... breathing. Shocked, she looked to her right to see the chest of her creation rising and falling as it breathed. The ambient sounds of the island were no longer just ambience. She could discern the location of every chirping bird and every leaping hare.

What the hell was going on?

She couldn't take her eyes off of her creation. She wanted to call out to it, perhaps issue a command, but what if this world had just become real? Manaka had seen shows before about people getting stuck in games. They were always just fictional shows, but she couldn't bring up the menu. She couldn't issue a GM command. She could sense the world around her as if it were real... maybe because it was real. If this was all real, what sort of creature stood there by the lake? Was it an evil dragon that would eat her in a second? Was it a guardian of the island, like she had set it up to be? Would it follow its programming and settings?

After what felt like an eternity, she mustered the courage to say it's name.

"Shyvanna." She addressed it. The creature turned its head to Manaka, looking down at her short frame.

"How may I serve?" the dragoness offered solemnly. A wave of relief flooded Manaka's system as she confirmed that its settings were intact.

But it had spoken.

"Who am I to you?" Manaka asked hesitantly. Shyvanna tilted her head in confusion, furrowing her brow.

"You... are my creator, Ghoti-Sama. The almighty watcher of the realm, having tasked me with the sacred duty of protecting your home, Kamishima. You stayed behind when the rest of the watchers left." Shyvanna seemed perplexed by the question, but had answered it as formally and gracefully as she could. Manaka grabbed her face in thought. A speaking NPC. Real senses. No menu.

It was real. All of it.

Having accepted it, she was realizing she could feel her powers. The powers she had as a doppleganger, a player, and the powers she had given her character as a GM. Something was missing though, she could feel no powers relating to GM commands or privileges. Seeing a rabbit cleaning itself near a bush, she pointed at it and muttered "Kill."

It didn't die immediately like it would have if she had GM commands, but Shyvanna pounced on it and ripped its throat out with no hesitation.

"Will you feast on it, my lord, or was it a gift for me?" Manaka was more stunned at how unphased she was at the gore than at Shyvanna's actions.

"It's for you." She muttered, as Shyvanna enjoyed the meal her creator had graced her with.

"Okay, this world is real. Fine. What does that entail?" Manaka began talking to herself, reasoning out the situation as best as she could. "Am I stuck here? Is there a way out? Am I dead in the real world?" She started pacing. Unbeknownst to her, Shyvanna was staring at her, concerned. "Is it just this island? Is all of Yggdrasil now real? Were the other players I saw online transferred here as well?" Manaka grabbed her head as thoughts spun through it.

"My lord?" Shyvanna's words fell on deaf ears.

"Maybe it's still a game. Maybe this was the plan all along. They just transferred the servers over to Yggdrasil 2, I had heard rumors on the forums online about such a game. Could it be possible?"

"Um... My lord?"

"If that's the case, this game is insanely detailed. Am I still a GM? What kind of programming has gone into this game to produce smell and touch? If I could feel pain in this game, would that even be legal?"

"My lord, I-"

"If I am a GM here, who would I call for help? Contacting another GM would be pointless. Maybe I could use teleportation magic to get to the surface..."

"My-"

"What?!" Manaka interrupted. Shyvanna bowed her head in regret,

"I deeply apologize for breaking your train of thought, my lord. Perhaps I could assist with your problem. My wisdom does not measure to yours in the slightest, but you did create me to be ultimately powerful. Could that be of use to you?" She kept her head bowed and her eyes closed as she spoke.

Manaka thought over the proposition. If this world was real, then that means any dangers that could come with it would be real as well. Having a powerful dragon at her side certainly could help if something were to go wrong when she travels to the surface.

"I'm going to visit the surface. Could you come with me?"

Shyvanna hesitated, surprising Manaka. Up until now, she seemed like she would have given her life for Manaka.

"I-... I would, my lord, but I cannot leave this place. You created me for the sole purpose of protecting Kamishima, and leaving it unguarded is something I cannot do." Shyvanna knelt down in front of Manaka. "Please, forgive me! I will do anything in my power to serve you, but leaving this island is not within my power!" her face twisted into a grimace as she mentally reprimanded herself for defying her creator's direct order.

Her master did not seem surprised by her reaction though.

"Good answer." It had been a test, and she had passed it!

Manaka cursed at herself in her mind. If only she hadn't programmed Shyvanna with such a glaring weakness. What could she do now?

Perhaps she could still create NPCs as a GM. /kill didn't work, but maybe some other commands would?

"Patrol the edge of the island until I call for you, Shyvanna." The dragoness simply nodded, spread her wings, and flew away. "Any commands I say out loud, she's likely to follow. I don't want anything weird to happen while I experiment with my powers."

One of the thousands of thoughts racing through Manaka's mind seemed to stand out. It was that she was thinking a lot. Much more than she had ever thought in her life. Manaka herself had never been truly intelligent. She could be witty at times, and she was of above average intellect, but she was never a genius. Her mind now, however, seemed to fill with multiple possibilities, branching out into countless more possibilities. It was all happening so quickly, so cleanly, so clearly. There was no jumble or mess, it all seemed to make sense and fall into place. She was piecing things together with an ease she had never known.

The realization hit her. She had always roleplayed Ghoti as a hyper intelligent, levelheaded, tactically brilliant Doppleganger. Not only had she been somehow transported to this world, but she was no longer human. She was not a human inhabiting her avatar's body... she was now her avatar.

She was no longer Manaka,

She was now Ghoti.


	2. The Dread God

"Fly!" Ghoti shouted. Nothing happened. She knew she could fly using magic, but testing her GM commands was first on her priority list.

"Noclip!" Her hand touched the tree beside her like normal.

"Spawn... greater basilisk!" Nothing.

"Giveitem... divine ring of insight!" Again, nothing.

She plopped down on the ground, defeated. Nothing was working. It looked like GM commands didn't come with her transformation into Ghoti, or at least, she didn't know how to use them. Her magic came to her so easily though.

"Summon greater basilisk!" She cried, extending her hand. She felt an expenditure on her mana pool as before her, a massive, armored lizard appeared, resembling a Komodo dragon. She could even feel that summoning undead by using bodies, or elementals by using their respective element, would be more mana efficient than outright summoning a living creature.

She gave a wave with her left hand and the basilisk disappeared. With the same hand, she grabbed her long, black ponytail and brought it in front of her face. With a thought, the color of her hair changed to red, and then to blonde, then green, and then back to black. She let go of her hair, and watched as her olive colored hand morphed into the claw of a bear, and then back to a hand. Her eyes transformed into those of an eagle's and her sight had never been better, then back to her regular green eyes.

It was bizzare. Her doppleganger powers worked, her spells worked, and she could feel them all just fine. Where were her GM commands? Without them, traveling to the surface blind could be dangerous. She would need to collect some information first.

"Clairvoy-" She stopped before casting the spell. What if there was someone who could detect her clairvoyance spell? She would need to be more careful than that. Some standard protective spells should be enough.

"Counter detection." She spoke, waving her hand in the air. Magic particles floated along her hand as a small burst of blue light followed. "Fake cover. Detection contingency. Mitigate detection." After casting a few more spells, she was ready.

"Clairvoyance, crystal monitor." A glowing window appeared in the air, showing the surface of the world. The area it showed was unfamiliar to her. Rolling hills surrounded by a forest, with mountains in the distance. On one of the hills was a man with dark hair, dressed in black armor. He turned his head and gazed straight at her, a grin appearing on his face. She cancelled the spell immediately, falling on her butt in shock. That armor seemed pretty low level in terms of Yggdrasil... was that man just a regular fighter? Able to see straight through her spell? Before, she hadn't been worried about especially strong beings, but rather, being outnumbered and caught of guard. Her character was pretty powerful, after all. After seeing him though...

She stood and readied herself. She couldn't stay up here forever, that wasn't an option. She had to figure out what was going on. If that man wasn't evil, perhaps he would give her some information. She had to approach carefully, but peacefully.

"Portal." She waved her hand as a deep blackness appeared in front of her, in the shape of a half-oval. She hid her weapons away, out of sight, as she walked through.

Carne stood tall, basking in his own pride and glory. He laughed manically at his conquest.

"You all fear me!" He shouted, raising his arms at his side, obsidian claymore in his right hand. "Carne, the Dread God!" He could feel the citizens of the kingdom cowering dozens and hundreds of miles away as his voice invaded their minds. "There is no hiding, there is no escape. I will come for you, I will find you, and I will flay your very souls!" He erupted in deep, ominous laughter once again. "Where are your gods now?! Where are your demons?! Where are your heroes?! They all cower before me, or rot in the ground!"

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Something was wrong. Someone was watching him... but he could barely sense it, hidden behind layer upon layer of protective magic. In the end, all of that effort to hide was no use. He turned to the source of the feeling and grinned. It immediately vanished and he laughed again.

"Futile." He whispered. "I do not hide, watching me from afar will bring you only dismay." A thin, yet deep blackness burst forth and protruded from the earth. A door to another world? Through it stepped a small, beautiful woman wrapped in a sage green cloak. Under the cloak she wore simple, black clothing and leather padding.

"So you were the one watching me?" He smirked, feeling great power from her.

"Yeah, sorry about that." She smiled at him sweetly. That couldn't have been... did she not know him? "I'm Ghoti." He didn't see any weapons on her, and didn't sense any fear or ill intent.

"Where are you from, Ghoti?" He didn't bother offering his name, he didn't believe for a second she was so ignorant. He could sense her hesitation.

"Um... Kamishima? Do you know of it?" He had never heard the name before. A foreigner, from a distant land. What was she doing here?

"Ah, Kamishima..." An innocent smile crossed his face as he sheathed his blade and walked towards her. "We get visitors from there every now and then." She squinted her eyes suspiciously, and her smile vanished. Had he made a mistake in his ruse already?

"Who's 'we'?" She asked. He spread his arms out and looked around,

"The Re-Estize Kingdom, of course! You do know where you are, right?" The split second that she hesitated with her response was all he needed to know she was hiding something.

"Oh, of course." She offered, "I thought maybe you had friends nearby." Carne got excited. She was sizing him up. Seeing if he had reinforcements. The power he felt from her along with her sharp wit had his heart pounding with anticipation. She must have been the Kingdom's secret weapon. A last resort for times of ultimate crisis. He felt honored.

"I've never been to Kamishima myself, Ghoti. Where is it?" He went over their encounter thus far in his head, wishing he had played it a little differently. Perhaps he should have acted more surprised about her portal, giving her false information about his knowledge and power. She hesitated with her response yet again. 'Kamishima my ass', he thought.

"Well, I couldn't really give you directions. I used a portal to get here." She was staring into his eyes, gazing into his mind. What was she seeing? He wondered how much she could read from him. How accurate her assessments were. Did she know he was going to attack the moment he got into range? He was closing in. It would be seconds now before the fight began. He hoped she was as powerful as he thought.

"That's a good point, but it brings up another question. Why come here? And why use a portal of that magnitude?" At that moment, he saw her left arm retreat into her cloak. She was grabbing a weapon, no doubt. There was no point in hiding it. He put his left hand on the hilt of his claymore casually. "In a rush?" His smile turned into a grin once more as he dashed towards her, striking at her neck. His blade cut through the air as she ducked, ramming her shoulder into his torso, knocking the wind out of him. He flew back over 30 meters before landing on the ground with a thud.

She was fast.

In less than a second, she was on him. The tip of a strange looking sword was heading straight for his face. Without even thinking about it, he deflected it with his claymore, but she was quick to turn and kick him in the head, sending him flying another 15 meters. Her speed was unreal. His heavy armor and massive sword were useless against her, he would have to switch to another tactic.

While flying through the air, he waved his hand, "Earth Elemental!" He shouted. A massive hand erupted from the ground as the earth golem pulled itself out of the dirt. A mere distraction as he reached for his shortsword, but he heard her voice repeat his.

"Earth Elemental!" She shouted. Unreal, she could cast such magic and yet move so swiftly? He couldn't help but giggle in excitement. It had been decades since such a fine warrior revealed themselves to him. He would make the most of this battle.

As he drew his shortsword, she was on him again. He was fast enough to parry her first blow, thrusting a dagger at her chest in the process. As the blade made contact with her skin, it began to disentegrate. He heard her muttering the words of a spell he didn't know could be cast with such speed in the middle of combat.

"Disentegrate weapon." She used the momentum gained from his parry to spin around with another slash, aiming for his legs. He jumped in the air, but was caught by a massive fist made of stone.

"WHAT?!" He screamed. He looked beyond her to see their two earth elementals fighting eachother, then turned his head to see yet another earth elemental holding him in the air. "When did you summon the second one?!" Her face never stopped analyzing him as she answered.

"With the first one. It's not that hard to summon two at once." She jumped up to him, landing on the outstretched palm of her golem. "You never told me who you are." She stared right through him, but her eyes widened as she jumped backwards before he answered.

"The dead have no use for answers!" He shouted as the fist of the earth elemental shattered into a million pieces. Such tactics were pointless to his martial skill, Shattergrasp.

"Greater Ability Boost!" A redness envoloped his body as a new strength flooded him. He used the forearm of her golem to kick off of, flying towards her at great speed.

"Pace of the wind!" As he zipped past her, he felt his blade slice into skin, and heard a small grunt. Before landing, he looked at the blood on his shortsword and smiled. First blood was his. He knew better than to let his guard down though.

"Invulnerable Fort! Reinforce Hide! Strengthen Perception!" As he was falling in the air, activating as many martial and magical boosters as he could during his short time frame, he looked back at her. She was muttering her own spells, strengthening herself as she flew towards him.

Flew? So she knew flying magic as well, huh?

Something was off, though. All of her enhancers were magical. None of them were martial. It was clear she was an experienced fighter, not just a magic caster. Was it some special tactic? Whatever it was, he would take advantage of it.

As he landed, she was on him yet again. This woman was relentless. A quick parry of her first strike followed by a duck to dodge her roundhouse kick. It was too late when he saw her palm facing him.

"Grasp Heart!" She shouted. He had never heard of a spell like that before, but the pain in his abdomen was unfathomable. In Ghoti's hand she held a heart, and somehow, he knew it was his. Carne grimaced, raising his blade, but he was too late. Their his heart was, crushed in her hand. He fell to his knees, stunned, looking up at her. She loomed over him.

"Impressive. You're alive after being hit with a 9th tier spell." If Carne had been breathing, he would have stopped the moment she claimed to have cast a 9th tier spell on him. "If you can still speak, now would be the time to say your last words." Her gazing eyes and searchful expression never faltered, even now. With the breath that was left in his lungs, he managed two words.

"Replenish... Form!" His body recovered from its injuries, even her so called '9th tier' spell. She leaped back, throwing two daggers at him which he easily caught.

The two stood their, staring at eachother for a while.

"You're... very strong." He managed. She seemed pleased by his assessment.

"I don't have a frame of reference to judge you on, but back where I'm from, I would say you're pretty strong too." Unsure if he would come out of this alive, he knew of one way he could get back at her for killing him... if that came to pass.

"Really? I'm only about average here." That squinty eyed look of suspicion crossed her face again. He didn't know if she called his bluff, but he hoped he at least made her fearful of this world. Anything to mess with her head.

Reassessing his situation, he made another snap decision.

"Would you like to team up?" He asked, hand held out to her. She seemed genuinely shocked. It was about time something phased her. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and I love that cold gaze of yours. Stay with me." She scoffed, and yelled,

"Summon Grand Dragon God!" Above the two began forming a dragon so immense that it cast a shadow over everything in their sight. It seemed to be forming slowly. "You may have recovered from a 9th tier spell, but how will you fare against a 10th tier summon?"

...10th tier?

This woman was insane.

Or insanely powerful.

Regardless, Carne now had a time limit. He had to kill her before that dragon finished forming, or he was done.

So be it.


End file.
